AST SpaceMobile, Inc. ( ASTS ) shares are moving lower on heavy volume Thursday. The company announced the successful launch of its first five commercial satellites today.

The Details:

AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS ) launched the Bluebird satellites at 4:52 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The large arrays of antennas are designed to reach standard smartphones directly at cellular broadband speeds for voice, data and video and other non-communications government applications. 

After launch, the BlueBird satellites are planned to offer non-continuous cellular broadband service across the United States and in select markets globally. The Bluebirds will target approximately 100% nationwide coverage from space with over 5,600 coverage cells in the United States.

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“This is an exciting next step to a future where our customers will only be hard to reach if they choose to be – giving them the power to go anywhere and the possibility to do anything while staying connected with just an everyday cell phone,” said Jeff McElfresh, COO of AT&T. 

Last week, AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS ) stock fell after the company filed a prospectus for the offer and sale of up to $400 million Class A common stock. According to data from Benzinga Pro, AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS ) shares are up more than 25% over the past month and trading above the stock’s 50-day moving average of $21.65.  

How To Buy ASTS Stock:

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS ) – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy ‘fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, or Amazon.com, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so.

In the the case of AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS ), which is trading at $25.17 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 3.97 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to ‘go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

ASTS Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS ) shares are down 9.25% at $25.33 at the time of publication Thursday.

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Image: Courtesy of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. ( ASTS )